While the information below may represent some kind of "standard" form, it is not a set of rigid rules. You may experiment with deviations, but other editors may find those deviations unacceptable, and revert those changes. They have just as much right to do that as you have to make them. Be ready to discuss those changes. If you want your way accepted, you have to make the case for that. Unless there is a good reason for deviating, the standard should be presumed correct. Refusing to discuss, or engaging in edit wars may also affect your credibility in other unrelated areas.

The name of the entry is that of the word or phrase that you are defining. For languages with two cases of script, the entry name will usually begin with a lowercase letter. Exceptions include proper nouns, German nouns, and many abbreviations.

Language lets you know the language of the word in question. It is almost always in a level two heading (See Wiktionary:How to edit a page for some basic terminology we use). In most cases the language header contains a language in its traditional meaning. Priority is given to ==Translingual==; this heading includes terms that remain the same in all languages. The symbols for the chemical elements and the abbreviations for international units of measurement are but two examples of translingual terms. English comes next because this is the English Wiktionary. After that come the other languages in alphabetical order.

Part of Speech may be a misnomer, but it seemed to make sense when it was first chosen. It is the key descriptor for the lexical function of the term in question (such as 'noun', 'verb', etc). The definitions themselves come within its scope. In addition to the traditional “parts of speech” it has come to include entities that are less than words, such as initialisms and suffixes, and items that are more than words, such as idiomatic expressions, phrases and proverbs. This heading is nestable. It is most frequently in a level three heading, but may have a lower level for terms that have multiple etymologies or pronunciations.

References are becoming more important as we strive to improve the reliability of Wiktionary. While we may be lax in demanding references for words that are easily found in most paper dictionaries, references for more obscure words are essential. References may be added in a separate header of adequately chosen level or added directly to specific senses.

Entries for terms in other languages should follow the standard format as closely as possible regardless of the language of the word. However, a translation into English should normally be given instead of a definition, including a gloss to indicate which meaning of the English translation is intended. Also, the translations section should be omitted.

There are additional headings which you should include if possible, but if you don’t have the necessary expertise, resources or time, you have no obligation to add them, with the possible exception of “References”. The list below is not an exclusive list; other headings may be essential in some circumstances. An order for these headings is recommended, but variations in that order are also allowable.

A typical entry that uses many of these additional headings could be formatted thus:

A key principle in ordering the headings and indentation levels is nesting. The order shown above accomplishes this most of the time. A heading placed at one level includes everything that follows until an equivalent level is encountered. If a word can be a noun and a verb, everything that derives from its being the first chosen part of speech should be put before the second one is started. Nesting is a key principle to the organization of Wiktionary, but the concept suffers from being difficult to describe with verbal economy. If you have problems with this, examine existing entries, or ask questions of a more senior person.

In general, headings in this group do not depend on the meaning of the word. They give an environment that leads up to the word and its relation to other words, and allow us to distinguish it from others that may be similar in some respects.

The first header below the language heading is usually the level 3 "Etymology" header. The etymology is given right below the header without indentation. Etymology essentially shows where the word comes from. This may show the forms in other languages that underlie the word. For many modern words it may show who coined the word. If a word is derived from another in the same language by a regular rule, such as formation of an English adverb by adding "ly", it is not necessary to repeat the complete details of the word's origin on the page for the derived word.

Sometimes two words with different etymologies belong in the same entry because they are spelled the same (they are homographs). In such a case there will be more than one "Etymology" header, which we number. Hence for a word like lead the basic header skeleton looks like this:

The region or accent [(UK), (US), (Australia), et al.] is first if there is regional variation, followed by the pronunciation system (such as SAMPA or IPA), a colon, then the pronunciation. (See Wiktionary:Pronunciation key for an outline of these two systems.) The phonetic transcriptions are normally placed between diagonal strokes. While there is a natural bias in favour of established systems of pronunciation, it is not wrong to use an arbitrary representation if that’s all you know and there is an important point to be made. For the word reject, one could have /RE-ject/ and /re-JECT/ to make the important distinction between the pronunciations of the noun and verb forms. It may not be standard, but neither is it wrong. Whenever possible, however, such ad hoc pronunciations should be replaced with one in an unambiguous system, such as IPA.

Ideally, every entry should have a pronunciation section, and perhaps a sound sample to accompany it. However, pronunciations vary widely between dialects, and non-linguists often have trouble writing down pronunciations properly.

If a word is a homophone in a particular dialect, it may be added provided the dialect is referred to (for example, rider is a homophone of writer in accents with flapping, and beater is a homophone of beta in non-rhotic accents). Examples (for beater and right, respectively):

This is usually a level-3 header but may be a higher-level header when multiple etymologies or pronunciations are a factor. This header most often shows the part of speech, but is not restricted to "parts of speech" in the traditional sense. Many other descriptors like "Proper noun", "Idiom", "Abbreviation", "Symbol", "Prefix", etc.

We give a word's inflections without indentation in the line below the "Part of speech" header. There is no separate header for this. For uninflected words it is enough to repeat the entry word in boldface. Further forms can be given in parentheses.

The definitions are the most fundamental piece of dictionary information but do not have their own header. They are simply added in one big block, line after line, each beginning with a number sign (#). Each definition may be treated as a sentence: beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop. The key terms of a definition should be wikified.

The "definitions" of entries that are abbreviations should be the expanded forms of the abbreviations. Where there is more than one expansion of the abbreviation, ideally these should be listed alphabetically to prevent the expanded forms being duplicated. The case used in the expanded form should be the usual one — do not capitalise words in the expanded form of an abbreviation that is made up of capital letters unless that is how the expanded form is usually written.

Where the expanded forms are entries that appear (or should appear) in Wiktionary, wikify them. Expanded forms that are encyclopedic entries should also be wikified and linked to the appropriate Wikipedia entry. When the expanded form does not merit an entry of its own, either in Wiktionary or Wikipedia material, wikify its component words and give a gloss (italicised, in parentheses) after the expansion explaining what the term means (see SNAFU for an example).

A context label identifies a definition which only applies in a restricted context. Such labels indicate, for example, that the following definition occurs in a limited geographic region or temporal period, or is used only by specialists in a particular field and not by the general population. Many context label templates also place an entry into a relevant category, but they must not be used merely for categorization (see category links, below).

Generally, every definition should be accompanied by a quotation illustrating the definition. If no quotation can be found, it is strongly encouraged to create an example sentence. Example sentences should:

be grammatically complete sentences, beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

be placed immediately after the applicable numbered definition, and before any quotations associated with that specific definition.

be italicized, with the defined term boldfaced.

be as brief as possible while still clarifying the sense of the term. (In rare cases, examples consisting of two brief sentences may work best.)

be indented using the "#:" command placed at the start of the line.

for languages in non-Latin scripts, a transcription is to be given in the line below, with an additional level of indentation: "#::".

for languages other than English, a translation is to be given in the line below (i.e. below the sentence or below the transcription), with an additional level of indentation: "#::".

not contain wikilinks (the words should be easy enough to understand without additional lookup)

The goal of the example sentences is the following, which is to be kept in mind when making one up:

To place the term in a context in which it is likely to appear, addressing level of formality, dialect, etc.

To provide notable collocations, particularly those that are not idiomatic.

To select scenarios in which the meaning of the example itself is clear.

To illustrate the meaning of the term to the extent that a definition is obtuse.

To exemplify varying grammatical frames that are well understood, especially those that may not be obvious, for instance relying on collocation with a preposition.

This section, whether identified by a heading or indent level may come anywhere. It should follow as closely as possible after the point that needs explaining. Curb the tendency to be long winded in this section; brief explicit notes tend to be more effective. These notes should not take the place of restrictive labels when those are adequate for the job. Be prepared to document these notes with references. Remember to describe how a term is used, rather than try to dictate how it should be used from your point of view.

Quotations are generally placed under the definition which they illustrate. If there is more than one being provided, or where this is not possible (e.g., a very early usage that does not clearly relate to a specific sense of the word), a separate section should be used. Quotations here are formatted normally but without definition numbers.

An alternative to identical lengthy lists of synonyms in many entries is offered by Wikisaurus entries. Instead of listing many synonyms in each of several synonymous entries, a single reference can be made in each to a common Wikisaurus page. See corpse, body, Wikisaurus:corpse, Wikisaurus:body for examples.

The following headers are available to define sections containing semantically related words other than synonyms: Antonyms, Hypernyms, Hyponyms, Meronyms, Holonyms, Troponyms, Coordinate terms, See also.

Each of these sections is formatted exactly like the Synonyms section (see above). More detailed information can be found on Wiktionary:Semantic relations.

List terms in the same language that are morphological derivatives. For example, the noun driver is derived, by addition of the suffix -er, from the verb to drive. If it is not known from which part of speech a certain derivative was formed it is necessary to have a "Derived terms" header on the same level as the part of speech headings.

List words in the same language that have strong etymological connections but aren't derived terms. Each such term should be wikified. For example, datum and data should point to each other in this section since the latter is the plural of the former, and the plural form is not obtained by morphological derivation but was taken directly from Latin (where it is a morphological derivation). Another example is the pair of nouns pendant and pennant. These should cross-reference each other as they have very similar (arguably identical) etymologies in some subsenses.

ONLY add translations that you are CERTAIN of. If you aren't familiar with a language, or aren't sure of a particular translation, it is far better not to add it than to risk adding an incorrect translation.

NEVER use automatic translation software to generate translations from English into a language you don't speak. Automatic translations into English are likewise problematic. Translation software rarely gives accurate results.

DO NOT COPY from translating dictionaries (bilingual or multilingual) as this may constitute copyright violation. This applies to dictionaries both in print form and online. Dictionaries that are out of copyright may be used.

Translations are to be given for English words only. In entries for foreign words, only the English translation is given, instead of a definition. Any translation between two foreign languages is best handled on the Wiktionaries in those languages.

The translation section is separated into a number of divisions that are keyed to the various meanings of the English word. Each division is separated into a distinct collapsible navigation box by use of the translation section templates (see below for example.) The boxes are each headed by a summary of the translated meaning.

Within each box, the languages for which translations exist are listed in two columns by their English names in alphabetical order. The language name is preceded by a bullet (generated by *) followed by a colon and the translations into that language. The names of languages which are expected to be well-known among English speakers are not to be wikified, while language names which may not be known to the average person or are potentially subject to confusion are to be wikified. Details and a list of affected languages are listed on Wiktionary:Translations/Wikification. The two columns within the collapsible navigation box are obtained by adding the {{trans-top}} template just before the first language, {{trans-mid}} halfway down (which is typically, but not always, between the languages beginning with A-I and those beginning with J-Z), and {{trans-bottom}} at the line after the last translation.

Do use the {{t}} template for each translation. This will create a link to that word in this Wiktionary and a small link to the Wiktionary for that language. References for the translation should be on that other page rather than in the translation list. If you think {{t}} is too complex, simply enclose the translation in square brackets.

Do add a transliteration or romanization of a translation into a language that does not use the Roman alphabet. Note however that only widespread romanization systems may be used. See Wiktionary:Transliteration.

Do provide the grammatical gender of the translations of nouns, if appropriate, giving the parameters m, f, n and c for "masculine", "feminine", "neuter" and "common" respectively to {{t}}.

Do not add the pronunciation of the translation or detailed grammatical information: such information should be provided on the page for the translation itself.

Do ensure that multiple translations are given in full. For example, for the German for "ankle", which is Knöchel or Fußknöchel, write:

rather than just combining the two as "(Fuß-) Knöchel" or similar, which is liable to be misunderstood.

Do not give literal (word-for-word) translations of idioms, unless the literal translation is what is actually used in the target language. Most idioms do not translate word for word. For example, the idiom "none of your beeswax" cannot be translated into German literally as "nicht dein Bienenwachs", as this does not have the same meaning in German; an idiomatic translation is "nicht dein Bier" (which means, literally, “not your beer” in English).

Do not give translations back into English of idiomatic translations. For example, when translating "bell bottoms" into French as “pattes d’éléphant”, do not follow this with the literal translation back into English of "elephant’s feet". While this sort of information is undoubtedly interesting, it belongs in the entry for the translation itself.

Here is an example (a shortened version of the entry for orange) illustrating some of the conventions:

Anagrams may be entered in alphabetical order under a level 3 header ===Anagrams===. Only list anagrams that are words in the same language. You may include the alphagram which is not wikied unless it is itself a word. For post, the anagrams section would look like this:

Other sections with other trivia and observations may be added, either under the heading "Trivia" or some other suitably explanatory heading. Because of the unlimited range of possibilities, no formatting details can be provided.

The validity of the dictionary has a profound effect on its usefulness. There is a need to balance respect for copyrights with definitions so inventive as to be inaccurate. References to dubious claims, such as the etymology of windhover, are also important to the credibility of Wiktionary. In due course, every entry should have one or more references which can be used to verify the content.

References here may be given in a normal bibliographic format showing author, title, place of publication, publisher and year of publication. Reference templates (beginning with “R:”) are used for some of the most common sources. Thus, for the 1913 Webster, we have {{R:Webster 1913}}, which gives:

This is material which is edited in a regular edit box, but does not appear in the entry when it is read. In some cases where it appears depends on your user preferences, especially the skin that you have chosen.

A Wiktionary category is a group of related entries which are listed on a category page. Sub-categories may also appear on that page. Categories and lists under various names may seem very similar, but the way they are built is very different; in most cases, but especially in open-ended lists, they complement each other.

To include an entry in a category, simply add a category tag to the entry thus:

[[Category:Category name]]

The link will appear at the bottom of the page in some skins and at the top in others, regardless of where it is placed in the edit box. Category links are placed one per line at the end of the appropriate language section. Putting these tags in a consistent place makes them easier to find in a longer entry's edit field. A category link appears red if its category page has not yet been described, but categorized entries will appear there. You should edit a new category page, usually to add a brief description of the category and adding one or more tags to place it in a higher-level category.

The list of entries on a category page will be alphabetized in the strict Unicode order of the titles unless you dictate otherwise. One effect of this is that all English entries beginning with a capital letter will be listed before any that begins with a lower case letter. You can change how an item is sorted with a piped link. By placing [[Category:Drugs|*]] in the entry drug will force that term to be at the top of the list since Unicode lists the asterisk before any letter. Words that define a category name should be “piped” in this way. Similarly, putting [[Category:Drugs|aspirin]] in the entry Aspirin will force it to be alphabetized among words that begin with a lowercase letter.

In most cases the category name should begin with a capital letter. This takes advantage of Unicode sorting to create separate lists for each foreign language that is represented within the broader set of categories. Foreign-language categories can begin with the language code in lower case.

By convention, it is preferable to use the plural for most category names that are nouns. This will avoid having a category divided in two when some use the plural and some use the singular.

An Interwiki link is a link to an entry of the same spelling in another Wiktionary. The links start with the (usually two-letter) language code. The syntax is:

[[lc:ForeignPageTitle]]

The result will be that the entry at friend can link to the French Wiktionnaire’s version of “friend” using [[fr:friend]]. And the entry at ami can link to the French Wiktionnaire’s version of “ami” using [[fr:ami]]. So, on the English wiktionary, there is both friend and ami.

Where such links have been established a list of the linked languages will appear together at a place that depends on the skin that you are using; usually the far left column below the search box. Clicking on a language link will bring you to the entry named ForeignPageTitle in that language on that other Wiktionary.

Interwiki links are best placed as the last item in an entry alphabetically, each on its own line for ease of editing. Some of these links are generated by a bot that compares the various Wiktionary projects.

Newcomers sometimes inadvertently remove Interwiki links, perhaps because they don’t appear to do anything on the page. A single polite explanation is normally successful in curbing that practice.

Note also that for main namespace entries, interwikis are not used in the translation section. An interwiki link provides a link to this same page, explained and written in a different language. Experimental translation interwiki links that need to stay in the translations section must begin with a colon before the language code. The colon has the effect of forcing the link to appear where it is written.

Lastly, note that interwiki links should only be entered manually if you are certain no interwiki bot runs for a given language; interwiki links are normally entered by User:Interwicket in an automated fashion.